England's World Cup-winning allrounder Moeen Ali retires from international cricket
London, Sep 8: England allrounder Moeen Ali has announced his retirement from international cricket, continuing the changing of the guard in the English game that has also seen fast-bowling greats Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson quit the sport over the past year.
The 37-year-old Ali, who was overlooked for the upcoming white-ball series against Australia, said in an interview with British newspaper the Daily Mail that it was “time for the next generation.”
“It felt the time was right. I've done my part,” said Ali, who played 68 tests, 138 one-day internationals and 92 Twenty20 internationals for England — winning the World Cup in both of the shorter forms.
Ali, who was a role model for British Muslims, said he still feels like he can compete at the highest level, but was “trying to be realistic” about his international future.
“I could hold on and try to play for England again, but I know in reality I won't,” Ali told the Mail.
Matthew Mott was fired as head coach of England's limited-overs teams last month after disappointing title defenses in the ODI and T20 World Cups and the appetite for change continued with the removal from the squad of Ali and Jonny Bairstow — two senior players sharing over 400 caps.
Broad retired from cricket after last year's Ashes and Anderson followed suit in July during the test series against the West Indies.
The likes of spinner Shoaib Bashir and 20-year-old fast-bowler Josh Hull have been brought into the fold to help usher in a new era for English cricket across all formats.
Ali had been an influential vice-captain to Jos Buttler in the white-ball teams in recent years and was brought out of test retirement for the 2023 Ashes as a favor to captain Ben Stokes with England in need of a spinner.
Throughout it all, Ali was an extremely popular member of the England dressing room — with his cover drive his most memorable shot.
“I was a free-spirit kind of player and played on instinct a lot of the time,” he told Sky Sports.
Ali is one of only five men to take 200 wickets and score 3,000 runs in tests for England, the others being Stokes, Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Broad. He brought up both landmarks in successive tests in the 2023 Ashes series.
Ali said he was “especially” proud of taking 204 test wickets as well as getting five test centuries and a hat trick against South Africa.
“He would do anything the team required, probably to the hindrance of his career — he batted from No. 1 to No. 8," former England captain Alastair Cook said. “He was one of the great teammates.”
Broad described Ali as “one of my favorite ever teammates”, adding on Sky Sports: “He was someone who could make the whole changing room feel relaxed.”
Ali said he wants to continue playing franchise cricket but ultimately hopes to move into coaching.
“Coaching is something I want to do — I want to be one of the best,” he said. “I can learn a lot from (England coach Brendon McCullum)."
England hosts Australia in an eight-game white-ball tour, beginning on Wednesday with a T20 in Southampton.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
